We know that climate change is already making fire seasons longer and more intense. This is putting burdens on both career and volunteer firefighters and their families. With fire seasons also getting longer in the northern hemisphere, Australia will struggle to access support from the USA and Canada in coming years.
Despite solid investments by the Victorian government, it is clear that in bad fire seasons, where there are multiple simultaneous fire starts due to lightning, that Victoria does not have sufficient capacity to stop all these ignitions turning into fires. Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) does an outstanding job of protecting our public lands and putting these fires out, as do the air crews who tackle remote area fires. But in those peak moments we need more capacity.
We need more firefighting capacity – especially ‘first strike’ capacity which aims to stop small fires before they become uncontrollable blazes. One idea being pursued by Friends of the Earth is a proposal for Victoria to establish a volunteer remote area firefighting team within the CFA (often called RAFT – Remote Area Firefighting Team). Most other states already have these sort of groups. FoE proposes that Victoria establish its teams specifically to provide opportunities for urban based people to get involved in firefighting.
After several years of lobbying, we are getting close to a result. Everything is aligned to enable us to get this team established through a pilot program:
- Jaclyn Symes, the Emergency Services minister tells us that ‘I have been advised by the CFA that it supports the concept of establishing a volunteer remote area firefighting team’
- The head of Forest Fire Management of Victoria tells us that ‘we are all supportive of this as a concept’
- The CFA tells us that they are looking into establishing a pilot program for next summer!
What we need now is the money to make this happen.
As we know, state funds in Victoria are very tight. For us to secure funding for a pilot RAFT program, we need the Emergency Services minister and the Environment minister to put a bid to Cabinet to have funding allocated in the 2024/25 state budget (which will be announced next May).
To influence the budget process we need to be applying pressure now.
I hope you will support us with some simple online actions.
Remember this guy?
[This image: via Medium]
During the Black Summer fires, then Prime Minister Scott Morrison famously went on holidays in Hawaii, offended impacted communities by rocking up for photo opportunities when he got back, and said ‘I don’t hold a hose, mate’ when challenged on his lack of leadership during the fires.
Let's not be like 'Scotty from Marketing'. If you do want to see more capacity – and the opportunity to ‘hold a hose’, then please back our call for funding to establish a volunteer remote area firefighting team.
Ideas for action
1/ Sign and share our letter supporting the proposal, available here.
2/ If you are a member of an organisation with an interest in the outdoors, please consider signing this letter.
3/ Contact the ministers and urge them to fund a pilot remote area firefighting team within the CFA. A simple polite message to that effect will have impact.
You can email them: [email protected], [email protected]
Or mention them on social media.
Twitter and Facebook > @JaclynSymes @Steve_Dimo
A simple message is fine:
I support the proposal for a volunteer remote area firefighting team for Victoria @JaclynSymes @Steve_Dimo. It will help protect our national parks and wild places. #climatefire
Further information
You can read about our proposal for a volunteer remote area firefighting team here.